Our History
During the First Far East Agricultural Credit Workshop held in the Philippines on June 1-14, 1956, the delegates from the Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of China, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of the Philippines, Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of Vietnam, and Japan passed a resolution indicating, “that a Far East Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Training Institute be recommended to be established in a country represented in the 1956 Far East Agricultural Credit Workshop"; and “that the host country of the 1956 Far East Agricultural Credit Workshop be requested to take the initiative for the realization of the objectives of the resolution”.
In the light of the conditions constraining the agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia in the post World War II, particularly the issues of high interest rate, inadequate and inaccessible credit, and inefficient marketing, the Agricultural Credit and Cooperatives Institute or ACCI was inaugurated at the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños as a semi-autonomous institution under the supervision of UP on April 23, 1960. ACCI's establishment was a response to the need to develop manpower to handle credit and marketing facilities for agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia. The United States of America - International Cooperation Agency (ICA) and the Philippine National Economic Council (NEC) first provided the financial assistance for the construction of the Institute’s offices, classrooms, research laboratory, library, auditorium, dormitory, and equipment for training and research. On July 1, 1962, the Board of Regents (BOR) of the University of the Philippines approved the integration of the operating budget of ACCI into the regular appropriation of the University, thus, marking the stable financing for the operation and maintenance of the Institute.
Originally attached to the UPLB College of Agriculture (CA), and later to the College of Economics and Management (CEM), ACCI became a unit under the College of Public Affairs (CPAf) in 1998, but was transferred back to CEM in 2010, the same year when ACCI was renamed as the Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development or ICOPED. With the realignment of the Institute's mandate with the thrusts of the University and the national cooperative development plan as well as with the United Nation’s framework on cooperatives, which emphasizes cooperatives' contribution to socio-economic development particularly in poverty reduction, employment generation, and social integration;
ACCI's name was officially changed to ICOPED on November 26, 2010 during the 1263rd University of the Philippines Board of Regent Meeting. The renaming was made to reflect the ACCI's reimagined perspective of the cooperative movement given the changing landscape of cooperatives. The Institute has recognized the emerging innovative approach to the development of cooperatives as viable sustainable business enterprises and as vital actors and component of agricultural value chains. These chains already include the credit and other financial support services component in agriculture, hence the deletion of the term 'agricultural credit' in the name. With its renewed vision and mission for advancing the cooperative and social enterprise sectors in the Philippines and beyond, ICOPED has expanded its thrusts and continued to enhance its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness in implementing its academic, research, training and extension programs.
In the light of the conditions constraining the agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia in the post World War II, particularly the issues of high interest rate, inadequate and inaccessible credit, and inefficient marketing, the Agricultural Credit and Cooperatives Institute or ACCI was inaugurated at the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños as a semi-autonomous institution under the supervision of UP on April 23, 1960. ACCI's establishment was a response to the need to develop manpower to handle credit and marketing facilities for agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia. The United States of America - International Cooperation Agency (ICA) and the Philippine National Economic Council (NEC) first provided the financial assistance for the construction of the Institute’s offices, classrooms, research laboratory, library, auditorium, dormitory, and equipment for training and research. On July 1, 1962, the Board of Regents (BOR) of the University of the Philippines approved the integration of the operating budget of ACCI into the regular appropriation of the University, thus, marking the stable financing for the operation and maintenance of the Institute.
Originally attached to the UPLB College of Agriculture (CA), and later to the College of Economics and Management (CEM), ACCI became a unit under the College of Public Affairs (CPAf) in 1998, but was transferred back to CEM in 2010, the same year when ACCI was renamed as the Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development or ICOPED. With the realignment of the Institute's mandate with the thrusts of the University and the national cooperative development plan as well as with the United Nation’s framework on cooperatives, which emphasizes cooperatives' contribution to socio-economic development particularly in poverty reduction, employment generation, and social integration;
ACCI's name was officially changed to ICOPED on November 26, 2010 during the 1263rd University of the Philippines Board of Regent Meeting. The renaming was made to reflect the ACCI's reimagined perspective of the cooperative movement given the changing landscape of cooperatives. The Institute has recognized the emerging innovative approach to the development of cooperatives as viable sustainable business enterprises and as vital actors and component of agricultural value chains. These chains already include the credit and other financial support services component in agriculture, hence the deletion of the term 'agricultural credit' in the name. With its renewed vision and mission for advancing the cooperative and social enterprise sectors in the Philippines and beyond, ICOPED has expanded its thrusts and continued to enhance its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness in implementing its academic, research, training and extension programs.
